Shakespeare and Queer Theory

by Melissa E. Sanchez, Evelyn Gajowski (Editor)

Shakespeare and Queer Theory is an indispensable guide on the ongoing critical debates about queer method both within and beyond Shakespeare and early modern studies.

Clearly elucidating the central ideas of the theory, the field's historical emergence from feminist and gay and lesbian studies within the academy, and political activism related to the AIDS crisis beyond it, it also illuminates current debates about historicism and embodiment.

Through a series of original readings of texts including Othello , The Merchant of Venice , and Venus and Adoni s, as well as film adaptations of early modern drama including Derek Jarman's The Tempest and Edward II , Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho , Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet , and Julie Taymor's Titus , it illustrates the value of queer theory to Shakespeare scholarship, and the value of Shakespearean texts to queer theory.

Genres: Nonfiction, Shakespeare

248 pages, Hardcover

Published January 24, 2019

About the author

Melissa E. Sanchez is Associate Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Erotic Subjects (2011) and Shakespeare and Queer Theory (2019), and the co-editor of Rethinking Feminism in Early Modern Studies: Gender, Race, Sexuality (2016).

Reviews

[T.B. Caine · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for my paper for my Shakespeare class so thnx for the source xx

it was kewl

[Christian Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that hurt my brain to read, as it serves as an introduction to queer analyses of Shakespeare while simultaneously assuming that you actually know all of the foundational language of queer theory itself and all of the source material that it works with and in response to. I give it four stars because I could probably sit with this book for hours and hours just thinking about various claims that were made. I look forward to working with this for my final project for my Shakespeare class, but I also recognize that I may be aiming a little bit above my pedigree. Either way, a good read for me. I assume it's a great read for more accomplished people.
7.5/10